McLaren has a new logo and the story behind it starts in a small New Zealand town, not a design studio. The McLaren logo on the new McL 6GT looks different from what came before — new wordmark, updated typeface, updated visual language across everything the brand touches. The Speedmark stays. So does the racing heritage behind it.
McLaren confirmed an SUV is coming before the end of the decade. A front-engined car with rear seats is also on the table. The new McLaren logo was built to travel — supercar, SUV, Formula 1 car, retail store. It needs to work on all of them.
McLaren Logo — The New Zealand Connection
The name McLaren first appeared on a petrol station sign in Remuera, New Zealand — not on a racing car. Bruce McLaren’s family ran that garage. Designers went back to those original letterforms when building the new McLaren logo wordmark.
Bruce McLaren founded his racing team in the UK in 1963. The first badge had a Kiwi on it — his way of keeping New Zealand in the picture. He died testing a car at Goodwood in 1970. The team survived. The badge went through multiple versions over the decades. The Speedmark showed up in 1997 and stuck — a swept symbol based on the aerodynamic shape of a rear wing vortex. It’s been on every McLaren since.
The new McLaren logo keeps the Speedmark. The wordmark around it goes back to that garage sign in New Zealand.
Why McLaren Is Changing Its Logo Now
McLaren is about to become a different kind of company. The brand has spent its modern road-car era building mid-engined sports cars — the 720S, Artura, 750S. Focused, narrow, driver-first. That’s changing.
An SUV is officially confirmed and expected before the end of the decade. A second front-engined model with rear seats is also possible. McLaren is expanding its lineup beyond what it has ever built before. A refreshed visual identity makes sense when the cars it will represent look nothing like the cars it used to represent.
The new McLaren logo needs to work on a supercar and on an SUV. It needs to work on a Formula 1 car and on a retail store. McLaren says the updated branding is designed to travel across all those contexts without losing coherence.
McLaren Racing Gets It Too
Both McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing will use the new identity. The two operations have shared branding for years but this is a deliberate step to unify how the road car business and the racing team present themselves visually. The papaya orange that defines McLaren Racing and the darker palette of McLaren Automotive have always created some visual tension between the two sides of the brand. The new identity is designed to sit across both.
McLaren Is Not Alone
McLaren joins a long list of car companies that have updated their visual identities in recent years. BMW simplified its badge and went flat. Volkswagen dropped the chrome and went two-dimensional. Honda, Jaguar and Lamborghini have all done the same. The trend across the industry is away from ornate, three-dimensional badges toward cleaner, flatter designs that work better on screens and digital platforms than traditional embossed metal badges do.
McLaren’s update follows that direction without going as minimal as some of its peers. The Speedmark staying is significant — it’s the element competitors can’t replicate and that fans actually recognise on sight.
FAQ
What is the new McLaren logo?
McLaren refreshed its wordmark, drawing inspiration from the original letterforms above Bruce McLaren’s family garage in New Zealand. The Speedmark symbol — used since 1997 — stays.
Why is McLaren updating its logo now?
An SUV is confirmed. A front-engined car with rear seats is being considered. McLaren spent 30 years making only mid-engined sports cars — that’s changing fast and the logo needed to reflect it.
Which McLaren model gets the new logo first?
The McL 6GT — McLaren’s new manual gearbox supercar — is the first model to wear the updated branding.
Will McLaren Racing use the new logo too?
Yes. Both McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing will use the new identity across their respective operations.
Is McLaren building an SUV?
Confirmed. McLaren’s first SUV is expected before the end of the decade. The new logo will appear on it.
What is the Speedmark and when did McLaren start using it?
McLaren introduced the Speedmark in 1997. The shape comes from the vortex a rear wing creates at speed. It’s been on every McLaren road car and race car since.
